


Save Daniella

by Mimetoist



Category: Demento | Haunting Ground
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, F/F, Homunculus!Daniella, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mental Health Issues, Mild Language, Panic Attacks, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:00:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26745529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimetoist/pseuds/Mimetoist
Summary: When Daniella is being hurt by Riccardo, Fiona decides to fight her fear and intercepts the man.
Relationships: Fiona Belli/Daniella
Comments: 9
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Llyneth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llyneth/gifts).
  * Inspired by [(All alone in the danger zone) Are you ready to take my hand?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11113824) by [Llyneth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llyneth/pseuds/Llyneth). 



> This is a really annoyance for me. I played the game again recently and couldn't stop asking me WHO THE HELL SEES A WOMAN GETTING A BEAT AND DOES NOTHING ABOUT IT??? Specially when it's the ONLY other woman in the place??? Welp, I correct it. In this work Fiona is not a frightened little chick.
> 
> Inspiration for this work came by the wonderful fic of an awesome author called Llyneth called "All alone in the danger zone". I read it (and re-read it sometimes) non-stop, it made me want to write something as cute and well written as that, but I'm far from being that wholesome.
> 
> Lots of head hopping because I'm training omniscient narrator. 
> 
> Lots of misspelling and wrong commas because english is like my third language so let me know if something sounds too weird. It helps me improve my english skills, actually. 
> 
> Haunting Ground and it's characters belongs to Capcom, blablablah this is fanfic blablablah no profits taken etc.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Where is he?" The hooded man asked, walking menacingly towards the chair where the skinny maid was seated. "Where is the old man? Where is he hiding?"

The questions were followed by the loud sound of a slap. Then another. Then another. That was enough for Fiona. She had hated violence ever since she was a child¹. From school bullies to college abusers, nothing made Fiona grit her teeth more than to see someone harassing other people. Especially women. She always felt obligated to interfere whenever she witnessed such injustice, and this time was no different. Even though that maid scares her to death, she doesn't deserves to be treated like this. No one deserves.

Fiona take some steps back from the keyhole and rush into the door, throwing it wide open with a slam.

"I won't let him touch her!" The man were saying at the exact same time Fiona bursts into the room.

"And I won't let you touch her!" Fiona stands up and points a finger towards the man. "Hewie! Now!"

The white shepherd rushes through the door, jumping at the man's throat swiftly like a ghost. Blood spills on the floor as the man moves trying to get free from the dog's jaws. Unfortunately, he had quick enough reflexes to able to protect his neck and Hewie ended up biting his arm instead². 

Fiona quickly scans the room looking for something she could use as a weapon. The mobilia, covered in dust and spider webs, seemed too heavy for her to hold. There was no other choice: she dashes towards the hooded figure, tackling hard enough to make him lose balance.

The maid was sitting still, motionless observing while the man tries helplessly to free his arm of Hewie's grasp, only to be tackled to the floor. He stumbles, making an old lamp fall upon the white shade of vengeance that seemed ready to bite his arm off. This makes the dog finally let him go, ripping apart his sleeve and the skin below. The hooded man has no other choice but to crawl trying to get up as fast as possible.

As soon as the man stands up, Fiona's boots meets his guts with a strong impact, making him curl his body while groaning in pain. The dog now aims for his leg, growling while sinking it's sharp teeth in his skin. The maid feels Fiona's tight grip in her wrist, and soon enough has her body pulled off the chair. 

"Run!" The girl says, and jolts through the door. "Hewie! Let's go!"

The animal let go off the man, and runs beside them. Even that it was not difficult for the maid to accompany her pace, it was obvious that she was running as fast as she could, her hand still firmly closed around the maid's wrist. The girl's touch gives a strange sensation to the maid: it was like a small tickling that starts right under Fiona's hand and extends to the hand and forearm. The woman doesn't know exactly what to think about this.

Fiona runs through a whole wing of the castle until she finally stops, her exhausted pantings almost suppressing the sound of the old clock at the hall.

"Are you ok?" She asks, catching her breath.

Silence. Only Fiona's breath and the clock tickings. The girl turns her head, looking directly at the maid. A shocked gasp scapes her mouth, and she reaches for the other woman, touching the corners of her mouth.

"Oh no… Your lips… That bastard!"

The maid's eyes slightly widen with the unexpected touch… And the sensations it produces. What started with a tickling now suddenly makes the hair in the back of her neck stand up. It never happened before, and she didn't know how to react. None of the sensations she experienced until now were like that, and it was unnerving. Nonetheless, she decided it was a pleasing sensation after all. "So this is the power of Azoth?" — The thought almost was turned into words, but she decides to keep her mouth shut and silently observe Fiona's actions.

"Are there any first aid kits in this place?" The girl asks, clearly worried. 

"At the infirmary, miss." Were the maid's first words, as frigid as any other action she has taken up until now.

"Alright." Fiona retrieves her hand, and the pleasing sensation retrieves with it. "Let's go there."

The maid observes, astonished, as Fiona starts walking, only to stops a few steps later.

"Hey…" She turns to the maid, calling with her hands "Come on…"

The maid slowly walks towards the girl, following her around the castle. Everything about Fiona makes the maid… Curious, at minimum. She never have seen another woman, a real woman, and now she couldn't stop staring at the one in front of her. Her body and her cautious, shy moves, her dirty clothes and bruised skin. Her ears were protuberant, her hair was a mess, and she smelled like mud and sweat. She was far from being perfect… And yet, she was complete.

"You never said your name." Fiona breaks the silence, looking to the woman behind her.

It snaps the maid out of her deep daydream, and she lowers her eyes. A life being called "maid", "childe", "creation" and "whore" didn't made it necessary to actually think about a name before. She had her duties, and that was the only thing she needed to think about. Yet…

"Daniella." She says. It wasn't necessary, but the thought about a name, after all. Even Debilitas had one, why wouldn't she?

"It's a beautiful name." The young lady slightly smiles. "I'm Fiona."

"I know who you are, miss." Daniella states, suddenly stopping walking. "The infirmary is this way." Daniella points to the opposite corridor, and Fiona follows her.

Daniella reaches her pockets for a bunch of keys. She selects one of them, and unlocks a door at the end of the corridor. The "infirmary" was actually an ordinary bathroom with white and blue tiles. The maid stands still next to the door and rest her hands in front of her body, patiently waiting for Fiona to enter.

The girl quickly searches the place looking for something useful; patches, cotton, bandages, antiseptic. She gathers the items and head back to Daniella, a piece of cotton in hand.

"First, let's clean this." Fiona drops a bit of water in the cotton, and gently runs it in Daniella's bruised lips. 

She knew that probably Daniella was well aware of everything that was going on in that damned place, and that she probably would be brainwashed or something… But despite that, Fiona chooses to help her. "I must be really stupid"— she thinks, while applying antiseptics in the maid's injuries — "She would rather rat me to that freaks in no time. Unless…"

Fiona cautiously observes Daniella; she was unhealthly skinny, her skin tone was an almost-dead-pale, and her hands were covered in dry blood and scars. Fiona fights the urge to ask about her hands, and resumes patching her wounds. "Daniella certainly does not lives a happy life here. If only I could convince her to help me…"

The girl finishes the care-taking and looks up to the maid, whose eyes meets hers with curiosity. Daniella had slightly lowered herself to observe Fiona, so now their faces were only millimeters apart. Fiona startles herself due to the sudden proximity, but Daniella does not step back. Her gaze was intense, almost unblinking, and certainly frightening.

"Uh… T-there you are!" — Fiona tries to mask her terror with a smile. 

Daniella looks down to her hands; the patches were comfortably placed over her cuts, even in the fingertips. 

"I won't be able to bite my nails for a while, I guess." — The maid contorts her mouth, mimetising Fiona's smile, to make clear the humorous tone of the conversation. 

"Y-ou… You shouldn't bite… Uh…" — Fiona gulps, shrinking away from the creepy maid. Certainly it wasn't her kind of humour, and smiling just made Daniella look even creepier. — "Nevermind. Is it too tight? Can you move your fingers?"

Daniella looks down to her hands, slowly moving her fingers. 

"I can move, yes." — She turns her hands as she was admiring a piece of unprecedented art. — "Good work, miss. A very good work indeed..."

"Thank you. I'm a nurse. Well… I'm studying to be a nurse." — Fiona sighs — "I shouldn't have left college."

"A healer, I see…" — Daniella's face was no more motionless; her eyes now have an amazed sparkle. — "It means you can manipulate Azoth…"

"Uh… I keep stumbling with this word, but I don't really know what it means. I found a book in a study talking about it being the essence of life, but that's such a vague explanation!"

Fiona stops talking to look at Daniella. Hopefully, she could care enough to explain one thing or another to her.

"Azoth is the essence of life." — Daniella robotically says.

Fiona lets out a frustrated sigh. 

"Okay, but…" — She started talking, but was interrupted by Daniella.

"It's what makes a human complete…" — The maid raises her gaze to some point far behind Fiona, as in some kind of trance. — "Complete… I am… Not… Complete… Not..."

Daniella's body shivers and her hands shakes, along with random and brutal spasms in her face and neck. Fiona steps back, frightened, but fights the urge to flee; Hewie barks at Daniella, making the maid covers her ears and starts hyperventilating. 

Just then Fiona understood what was happening: Daniella was having the worst panic attack she had ever seen in her life, and she must do something about it. First the girl scolds Hewie, making him silent. Second, she steps forward and knees down in front of her, in order to keep eye contact.

"Daniella?" — Fiona's voice was as calm as she could manage it to be. — "Daniella, it's ok. I'm here with you. Let's breath together, and everything will be alright. Shall we?"

She didn't wait for an answer. "It's time to put your mental health classes in practice, Fiona…" — The thought go by as fast as it came.

"Let's smell the flowers…"

"There… Are… No… Flowers…"

"They're imaginary flowers. Take a deep breath, with me…"

Daniella shivers and spasms interrupts her breathing, making it even more difficult to handle. Fiona gently holds Daniella's head between her hands, making her look directly in her eyes.

"Daniella, please focus on me. Only in me. Okay?" — She keeps her voice low and as softly as she can. — "Let's smell the flowers…"

Daniella barely manages to catch her breath.

"Good. Now, blow the candles… Oh, imaginary candles."

The maid slowly blows the air out of her lungs.

"Yes, that's it! Very good, Daniella. Again, smell the flowers… And then blow the candles…"

They repeat this exercise for quite some time until Daniella's breathing returned to normal. Fiona slowly takes her hands away from Daniella's face, but the woman grabs it with her own. She spends some moments staring at Fiona's hands between her padded fingers, in silence. 

When she finally looks at Fiona's face, at first there was a mix of amaze and relief, like she was staring at some kind of saint; it desappears moments later though, and Daniella's face returns to it's default marble-statue expression, although this time a bit more saddened.

"I shall prepare dinner." — Daniella stands up, her rigid posture and blasé voice returning as she walks out the bathroom door, leaving a startled and confused Fiona behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiona is not free from Debilitas yet. Daniella is confused with her conflicting feelings about Fiona.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Went full on a homunculus Daniella for this one.
> 
> Less head-hopping, this time I decided to separate the POVs and I think it was better this way. Maybe I'll re-write the first chapter in this model.

"You're welcome…" — The girl mumbles, more to herself than to anyone. The dog whines, touching her knees with his cold nose. — "I know Hewie, I am stupid."

Fiona leans down to playfully pet behind the dog's ears.

"Yes, very very stupid human!" — She repeats, simulating what she imagined could be Hewie's voice.

She sighs and stands up, leaving the bathroom. Fiona was tired of wandering around that enormous castle unlocking doors and avoiding deadly traps. She wanted to get away from that cursed place and its demented residents, and most importantly, she wanted to escape that dreadful sensation of being closely observed all the time.

As her boots clacks on the granite floor of a partially destroyed balcony, she realizes that her footsteps weren't the only ones to echoes in the night. From a distance, she sees the enormous shadow of Debilitas, getting closer and closer as he walks away from the light. 

"Oh no… I totally forgot that guy!" — She thinks. Fiona quickly looks around; there was nowhere to hide. She thinks about running all the way back to the bathroom, but probably her footsteps would make him aware of her too soon. At her left, the end of the balcony meets her with a twenty-meters fall to the garden. At her right, a small corner and a most likely locked door. 

Swiftly, she leans to the wall and slides back to the shadows, next to the door. To her surprise, the door was slightly open. The man now was almost visible, which meant that she was almost in his sight too. She pushes the door cautiously trying to slip in before he could spot her, but a loud creak breaks the silence Fiona was trying so hard to keep. The enormous man immediately turns to her, his round eyes widening along with his mouth.

"My dolly!" — He joyfully shouts, clapping his hands in excitement.

"NO!" — Fiona shouts back, fiercely. She had enough of that sick hide-and-seek play. — "I'm NOT your stupid doll!"

Debilitas stops, standing still, clearly confused.

"Dolly?" — He mumbles, tilting his head.

"No! No dolly!" — Fiona waves her arms, trying to get the emphasis on the "no" part.

"No… Dolly…?" — Debilitas' face looked even more confused than before. 

"That's it! No dolly! Stop chasing me! NO MORE, NO DOLLY, OKAY??"

"Ugh… My dolly! Want dolly!" — The confused look in Debilitas' face slowly turned to anger. He clenches his fists and bumps them to the floor, making the whole balcony slightly shakes.

"Aw, shit."

Fiona had no other choice than to cross the door and run as fast as she could, sending Hewie away. She couldn't risk her new friend against the enraged giant.

***

Something about Fiona makes Daniella _ anxious _ , and the maid was having a hard time trying to figure out what. "Her azoth" was the obvious answer, yet it doesn't fully explain how an insensitive homunculus could spontaneously produce human-like reactions. It must be the most powerful azoth that has ever entered Belli Castle's walls because Daniella never had these sensations before. Not even in the presence of master Lorenzo. 

She looks down at her bandages, slowly running her fingers over its perfectly bonded ties.

"An unnecessary waste of resources, miss." — She states as she feels her wounds closing below the bandages.

Even already healed, for some reason that she doesn't understand Daniella was hesitant to just pull off the cautious bonds Fiona had made. Looking at them somehow makes her at ease, if that was even possible. Or at least the closest to "at ease" she ever has been.

The maid flexes her fingers, reaching for the knives on the table. The bondage made them slippery and her grip uncertain; there was no way she could cook like that. She sighs. The bandages have to go.

She was peeling the last scrap of it from her skin when the door slams open and Fiona bursts in, crossing the kitchen towards the storeroom cellar, almost slipping on the wet floor. The noisy stomps of Debilitas come right after her, but the giant freezes at the mere sight of Daniella; ever since he was created he was terrified of her.

Daniella steps towards him, staring in a way she knew he was frightened of. She must admit, she loves to see such a big creature run away in terror of her. It makes her feel powerful, instead of a broken, poor copy of a human. More than once she thought about throwing a knife at him, but never really did it; damaging another master's homunculus would be taken as an offense and deliberately put her own master at risk. 

Despite the hostile situation between the two alchemists, she was not in a favorable enough position to just throw knives at her own please like that, so she just waves the thought off her head and focuses on her duties. Her attention span was never that short; as soon as she slices the first vegetable, her mind wanders to the cellar and to what the hell Fiona could be doing there.

"I should not interfere." — She says out loud, to herself.

She slices a carrot as the thoughts pop into her mind. " _ Debilitas was giving chase to Fiona." _ She slices a tomato.  _ "The stupid dog from before is nowhere nearby _ ." She slices a green bell pepper. " _ She's too quiet down there…" _ She slices an onion. " _ This is… Unusual. _ " She slices ginger. 

"She's such a noisy, clumsy, ungraceful woman, running around covered in dirt and bruises, like some sort of wild animal!" — Daniella stops slicing, as she notices that now she was mumbling aloud. She raises her knife once more, looking at her reflex on the silver surface.

"Or a spoiled child..." — She sticks the knife on the kitchen counter, and heads towards the cellar.

From the top of the stairs, she could see Fiona on the floor below. She wasn't hiding as she would expect; instead, she was sitting on the floor, holding her legs. Small bloody stains marked the floor around her, making a way to the last step of the stair, which has broken in half spreading wooden shards around it.

The girl doesn't rises her head. Small trambles shakes her curled body, as she sobs under her breath. The maid freezes; a strange sensation runs her body as if something was holding her heart tight, giving her a strong urge to rush and make her stop crying somehow. Anyhow. 

Before Daniella could move, the clock strikes six. It was time to serve master Lorenzo's dinner, and it couldn't be postponed. The maid gulped and returned to the kitchen, her hands trembling nervously. She was already late, living proof of her incompetence.

_ "I won't be on time… I got distracted... It's not right… It's not right…" _ — The trembles were intensifying very quickly; the knife on the counter mockingly reflects her, as a hurtful reminder of how broken she was. In a burst move, Daniella tugs the knife from the wood, sticking it fiercely through her free hand, seeking the mild relief of a pain that never came. Her breathing starts to fail. She couldn't allow herself another crisis, not now...

" _ Smell the flowers… And blow the candle… _ " — The words came in her head as if Fiona was saying them in that exact moment. Daniella starts breathing as the girl has taught her, finally being able to control her body's shakes. She removes the knife from her hand and in a single swift movement places it in the cutlery on the wall.

"I'm late…" — She mumbles, quickly grabbing a plate and serving her master's dinner on a tray. 

Before leaving, she drops one tablespoon of her master's healing potion well mixed in his soup, as she has done so many times before. She glances at the cooking pan filled with soup, then back to the purple bottle in her hand.

She thinks about pouring the potion entirely into the soup, to ease Fiona's pain, but it certainly would enrage her master. She shouldn't waste his potions, and this was a very strict rule With impeccable balance, she carries the tray through the castle's halls until her master's hideout, taking longer paths to make sure Riccardo would not follow her.

"You useless wretch! Do you know what time is it!?" — Lorenzo's voice echoed from behind a wall.

"I am sorry, master." — Daniella puts the tray on the floor and steps back. A small block opens and the tray slides in.

"What the hell took you so long?"

"Lord Riccardo. I had to make sure he wasn't following me." — It wasn't entirely a lie, but Daniella felt uneasy as if it was. — "He is growing impatient, making inquiries..."

"Let him inquire as much as he likes. He will never find me!" — The loud noise of Lorenzo's sipping on his plate interrupts his speak. — "What about my precious little princess?"

"Debilitas has been chasing her..." — She didn't even have the chance to finish her sentence.

"No! That damn fool! He can damage the Azoth!" — The tray returns through the opening, the plate now empty. — "Unlike you, she is valuable! Don't be standing there you inutile dreg, go! Don't let them touch her! None of them!"

"As you wish, master." — Daniella diligently grabs the tray, leaving Lorenzo behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personally I found this very funny to write (I have a sick sense of humour I know), next chapter will be the dinner scene, that also PISSES ME OFF.


	3. Chapter III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiona reminisces her early life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: ABUSIVE PARENTS, SUICIDAL THOUGHTS.

Fiona was afraid, hurt, and tired of running around a broken castle solving deadly puzzles as if she was ought to uncover some unbelievable truth. She didn't want that, didn't want any of that. She only wanted her life back. She wanted to go home. 

"Home…" — The thought brought her back to Burford, a small city where she lived most of her life. The place was a very traditional British village, ever since medieval times. Surrounded by the green fields of Oxfordshire, Burford stands with its stone houses and large roads that spread just across a cathedral, where fragments of the roman empire can still be seen in its surroundings.

The coziness of a country life never had much appeal to Fiona; ever since she was a child, she always was curious about the tourists and took every opportunity she had to talk to them and ask about other cities. This often enraged her parents, especially her father, who always had been overly protective of her.

Actually, they didn't give Fiona any liberty at all. They educated her at home, never let her out alone not even to do simple tasks such as go to the market. Every tourist she had talked to was a small slip from her parents' grasp during shopping or a "family picnic day" once a week. 

At some point, Fiona always tried to understand her parents. She was their only child and the thought of losing her might have terrified them so much… But on another hand, she always wanted to play with other kids, go to a regular school and, why not, date someone just like she watched in the movies. Of course, this was never possible. Her only friends were her parents and a hoard of imaginary people. Her first love was a fictional character from her favorite book series. For her entire life, she played alone in her backyard, isolated from the rest of the world.

The first time she ever left home alone was when she finally managed to enter University. And that's when her parents turned from "overprotective" to frightening control freaks. They always were there to pick her after classes, and they would scold her in public if she was more than five minutes late. She never could attend parties and more than once she saw her father following her around the campus. Whenever he saw her talking to someone, he would scold her afterward. At the time Fiona was pretty sure they would get into her classrooms if they were allowed, and she thanked God they weren't.

Since then, what Fiona acknowledged as annoying overprotectiveness now was a living nightmare. She knew she had to escape somehow, and desperately tried to apply for an exchange in various countries as far from Europe as she could. The frustration of failure wasn't greater than the fear of her parents finding out her plans. What if they decide that she should quit university? Her dreams of independence and freedom would have failed before it even started. 

They indeed found out. And to her surprise, they did not yell at her, not called her names, not forbid her from attending university. Instead, they seemed happy about it. They started treating her very well and nicely. They asked her to postpone the exchange program for after the summer vacation and promised to take her on an incredible trip to Italy, where she would see the remarkable Belli's inheritance: the Belli Castle. They did stand for their word, and Fiona already had enough of this inheritance.

Yet she could not refrain from feeling guilty for not really grieving her parent's death. Actually, when she first realized that they more likely did not survive the accident, she felt a strange relief. "Home…" — She thinks and asks herself if she really would like to return to that place.

She finally manages to break free from "home", just to live the same feeling at Belli castle: trapped in an infinite maze without any hope of escaping, all her movements being watched at all times, in addition to the grotesque feeling of uncleanliness. That man, Riccardo… Fiona remembers him. He was there in the car crash, as the last thing she saw before passing out… And waking up naked in a cage. 

"Good Lord, what he DID to me!?" — Fiona shakes her head and takes a deep breath. Thinking about these things makes her nauseous and heavy-hearted. 

She stands up, cleaning the tears off her cheeks. Step by step she climbs the stairs back to the kitchen, her mind finally as empty as that cursed place. The smell of the food was awful, making her stomach twist and knot. Her eyes rest in a conveniently placed knife on the counter, wonderfully sharp. Apathetic, she grabs it and rises to her face, observing it's marks of use and bloodstains. Although old, it was polished recently with such perfection that Fiona could see her reflex on its blade as in a mirror.

"I could end this. I could end this now." — She says, as she slowly points the knife towards her free wrist. — "I've had enough… This is not a life… Never was…"

She knew how it would end. She tried before, only to make a bloody mess. She didn't even need to get stitches in her wounds back then, in three days it was dry and in a week she got scars. Now, years later, even the scars were gone. Blessed regeneration, her parents would say, but for her there's nothing blessed about it.

A friendly bark snaps her out of her daydreams and bad memories. She turns her head to see the white shepherd sitted down on the kitchen's floor, panting through his tongue.

— Hello, Hewie… I missed you.

She pets her friend in the head, the only thing capable of making her smile at the moment. Fiona lowers the knife back to the counter and leaves the kitchen with Hewie, not sparing a single glance back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up procrastinating and did not write much. Ugh, hope to keep up next chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp. This went longer than I've expected. Maybe I'll continue this?
> 
> ¹ & ² : Thank you Rival_Distiller for pointing the errors and giving suggestions, I am really thankful, it helps me a lot <3


End file.
